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One thing to note is that you cannot access localhost from the virtual PCs very easily, so if you develop on localhost you need to set up a new 'alias' for it in your hosts file on all 3 machines, or use the ip address of the windows 7 machine.

There's an easier way to test your websites and appications across the different IE platforms if you run Windows 7, Vista, or XP (run IE 5.5 and up)
IETester, a free software by DebugBar, is an application that we use on a daily basis that I thought the community here could benefit from. And no...I am not affiliated with DebugBar in any way.

IE Tester is excellent, but it's not without problems. For example, 24-bit PNG and transparency filters will fail in IE5.5/IE6 mode. It's also a little unstable and crashes quite frequently.

@Stormrider
localhost appears to be restricted to 127.0.0.1 in the guest XP. However, you can still enter the IP address of your host, e.g. http://192.168.1.10/mypage.html, or if you're using a fixed DHCP address, you can define a domain in the XP host file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc):

test 192.168.1.10

Enter "nbtstat -R" from the command line then load http://test/ in IE6 or 7.

@Stormrider
localhost appears to be restricted to 127.0.0.1 in the guest XP. However, you can still enter the IP address of your host, e.g. http://192.168.1.10/mypage.html, or if you're using a fixed DHCP address, you can define a domain in the XP host file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc):

test 192.168.1.10

Enter "nbtstat -R" from the command line then load http://test/ in IE6 or 7.

Yeh, I've done that already, set up 'dev' as my new dev environment to replace localhost and added it to all the hosts files (including the W7 one so the environment is consistent across all 3 platforms). I now have IE6, IE7, IE8 and IE8 64bit on my quick launch menu alongside all the other browsers i check in. It was definitely a selling point for Windows 7 for me - well, that and the ability to act as a Remote Desktop server so I can remote desktop in from elsewhere - this isn't available in Home Premium I think.

I what to get this corrected...but the whole wrong idea is spreading across the web. XP Mode is available to all who can install Windows Virtual PC! Even Home Premium. It should not even be called XP Mode instead maybe Seamless Integration because it works for VM guest running Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. It is added to the VM guest when you install the Virtual Addons. The only thing with Professional and Ultimate is the free copy of a Windows XP license. But Home Premium is not locked out of the Seamless Integration as long as you have your own copy of Windows XP (or other).

Logic without the fatal effects.
All code snippets are licensed under WTFPL.

Really nice, although my processor (Intel T5670) doesn't support HAW :( I looked for it on the BIOS but it wasn't there, then I used the SecurAble application and it said that my processor doesn't support it.

That's pretty cool. I've long since jumped ship to a sexy Kubuntu install, and use VirtualBox with desktop integration so I get damn near the same experience (Windows XP apps in their own windows like any native app). It is nice that Microsoft is throwing us a bone by introducing this feature though. Now if they'll just release a decent browser that holds up to scrutiny Thanks for the guide, if I ever boot into my Vista partition again long enough to consider upgrading to 7 (unlikely, but possible) I'll definitely come back to this article.

I don't know IE tester. We use Mac's and we use 'developers mode' in Safari. You can set the user agent to various IE, Firefox, Safari and Opera versions.
On a site note, registration to this forum failed using Safari mode, had to switch to IE :-)

I don't know IE tester. We use Mac's and we use 'developers mode' in Safari. You can set the user agent to various IE, Firefox, Safari and Opera versions.
On a site note, registration to this forum failed using Safari mode, had to switch to IE :-)

Uh...that only changes the user agent string that is sent to the server. It does nothing to alter the actual rendering of the page on the client. Unless said site sends different data according to the user agent but that would be a failure.

Logic without the fatal effects.
All code snippets are licensed under WTFPL.

I use Ubuntu Linux 8.04 LTS. I installed Sun Virtualbox, and then downloaded a free 120 day version of Windows Server 2008. I install this in multiple instances. This gives me a way to test IE7, IE8, FF2, FF3, FF3.5, Safari (latest), Opera (latest), and Chrome (latest). For IE6, I used an old XP CD sitting around that I think I've had for a decade and installed inside Sun Virtualbox. Windows is what I test with, not what I have to live with for every other aspect in my life.

And, if you're really curious, I code in Gedit but only with other Gedit plugins added in (not just the default plugins), and in particular File Browser. I also use Inkscape and Gimp for graphic work.

Would like to get this configured, but am running Parallels 5 on a Mac Pro & Windows 7. Unfortunately the Hardware Assisted Virtualisation Detection Tool returns a negative.... Is it worth trying VirtualBox or is it all becoming too virtual?

XP Mode is available to all who can install Windows Virtual PC! Even Home Premium... It is added to the VM guest when you install the Virtual Addons. The only thing with Professional and Ultimate is the free copy of a Windows XP license. But Home Premium is not locked out of the Seamless Integration as long as you have your own copy of Windows XP (or other).

Really? Have you tried it and confirmed that's the case? Microsoft certainly haven't made it public knowledge!

I'll setup some test, and get my computer setup for dual booting and install Home Premium. Would be impossible to test it from inside a VM itself. XD This is in fact the perfect job for using VHDs (Virtual Hard Disk) and boot from them, all thanks to native support for VHDs in Windows 7.

I'll let you know the results as soon as possible.

Logic without the fatal effects.
All code snippets are licensed under WTFPL.

That's a good tutorial on setting up Virtual PC and XP Mode in Windows 7, but I wonder what the benefit of all this is over using one of the multiple-IE solutions that already exist? Do they not work so well on Windows 7?

Would like to get this configured, but am running Parallels 5 on a Mac Pro & Windows 7. Unfortunately the Hardware Assisted Virtualisation Detection Tool returns a negative.... Is it worth trying VirtualBox or do we need to run an additional Parallels for Windows? All up this is becoming seriously virtual!

What an excellent article. Now all we need is an automated testing tool to be able to take screenshots from all those VMs. Add to this FireFox/Opera/Safari/Chrome and then finally you should have the bee's knees (or the dog's ***) of a web design test setup.

Add to that keyboard and mouse automation capabilities and now you can deal with usability testing for those dynamic sites.

But a great start point.

And with HP currently offering a minimum of £100 for a trade in of any old pc for a new HP laptop, you could do all of this VERY nicely.

Alright I test out Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows Virtual PC to get this XP Mode thing going. And it does work! However you must do the manual labor yourself, no pre-compiled image. There are two things you will need to download, the first one is Virtual PC then while in the guest OS you need to download an update for Windows XP.

Install that, then using your own CD of Windows XP, Windows Vista SP1, or Windows 7 install inside the VM. Then from Tools you want to install the Integration Components, Enable Integration after that.

Has anyone tried Internet Explorer Collection? It claims to provide the rendering abilities of IE versions 1.0 through 8.0, of which only the very first version of IE 1 and the last build of IE 7 (with one exception) do not work on XP. This would give XP a total of 12 different versions of IE. Just curious if anyone has tried it.